Manchester City defender Micah Richards and Everton midfielder Jack Rodwell, who were also hoping to feature in England's opening Euro 2012 qualifying matches against Bulgaria and Switzerland next month, have also been named in Pearce's 24-man Under-21 squad.

However, Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs - who figured in England's defeat of Hungary, also as a second-half substitute - appears to be in line for another senior call having been left out.

Pearce added: ''It's the strongest squad we could have got at this stage of the season. Kieran Gibbs aside, we're looking pretty strong.

''I was very impressed with the contribution of the players in the last match and the majority of those players are in, with one or two additions on top of that.''

Albrighton's Villa team-mate Nathan Delfouneso is also back in the squad after making a goalscoring debut for Pearce's team against Greece in March.

There is also a first call for highly-rated Huddersfield goalkeeper Alex Smithies, who has previously been capped at Under-17 and Under-19 level.

Pearce explained: ''He's had a lot of experience at Huddersfield over the last couple of years and is a goalkeeper who can play again in the next campaign for us.

''We feel he has done extremely well when we've seen him and even though he's young, he's played a lot of matches which is similar to Joe Hart when he was playing for Shrewsbury for a couple of years before he went to Manchester City.''

England play Portugal in Barcelos on Sept 3 before facing Lithuania four days later at Colchester's Weston Homes Community Stadium.